FOODalogue : MyBlogHer Profile

FOODalogue is the inevitable collision of my life's passions: food, travel, photography and publishing. I was a little late getting into the blogging community but that was remedied in July 2008 when I decided blogging was the perfect forum to meld my interests.

 I am a 'culinista'. [Definition: one who obsesses about food...dreams it, cooks it, photographs it and writes about it.] I earned that exalted title long before the Food Network penetrated the American conscious when I created "The Pleasure of Your Company", a full-service catering operation. I customized party menus, shopped, schlepped, cooked and, yes, carted out the garbage at the end of the night. While it began as a part-time creative outlet, I was eventually faced with the decision to go 'full time'. I chose corporate America and financial stability...back then when there was financial stability in corporate America!

My Culinary Point-of-View. It's a little Flay, a little Ray and a whole lot my way! Like Bobby, I'm all about bold flavors, particularly those from the Mediterranean and Latin & South America. Like Rachel, 30 minutes is enough time in the kitchen to get it all together. I don't bake cakes or pies, make ice cream or deep fry anything. Don't have the patience and I really try to keep it healthy with lots of vegetables and fresh ingredients.

I am a recipe developer. I don't follow other people's recipes. I don't even follow my own. I never make the same thing twice. It's impossible when you start out with whatever ingredients happen to be around the kitchen or in the store on any given day and your only instruments of measure are your eyes and the size of your pinches. Besides, you don't need me to show you what Morimoto or Mario Batali does...you've got them! I keep it real, simple, tasty, colorful and original.

I am a desk-top publisher/writer. Though I never had formal training when the medium was first introduced, I managed to create a brand and living from it. I still struggle with some of the technical aspects, but I persevere.

The wonderful thing about life is you open one door and it leads to another. To promote the catering operation, I started publishing a seasonal 'good living' newsletter. That led to "The Finer Diner", a subsidiary from which I did some restaurant consulting, wrote a few restaurant reviews for local newspapers, and which ultimately led to "New Thoughts on an Old Business: an Rx for the Ailing Restaurant Industry" (an unfinished, unpublished, no longer relevant manuscript). I also self-published (very limited - mostly for friends) a humorous booklet called "The Happy Hour: An ABC Guide to Bar People".

Meantime, at my 'real' Wall Street job, I developed a 12-page 4-color monthly newszine for employees. This project complemented the other internal communications activities I performed which included producing and marketing educational/motivational seminars for the employees, the company's annual meeting, and other special events. In 1994, I moved to FL and was fortunate enough to take my job with me. That was a great opportunity that lasted 5 years until the company was acquired by a foreign entity and my reign as corporate historian was no longer relevant. Since then, I've been doing a little of this and a little of that. 

I am a traveler. I've been to more than 20 foreign countries (some multiple times). I mean, really, who can go to Rome and not want to see it again...or not go back to visit Venice, Florence, or Tuscany? I was on a real travel high during 2006-2008 when I visited Thailand for the first time, Greece (for the second time), Italy (for the third time), Spain (for the fifth time), Puerto Rico (for about the 100th time), New Orleans (first time), Canada (first time), and New York (umpteenth since I moved).

I also started The Traveling Sisterhood for a group of gal pals. I was their group organizer/leader and they were my travel companions on my most recent trips to Italy, Greece, Spain and South America.

 I am a photographer. OK, it's the point-and-shoot variety but I get some surprisingly good results -- and it's the perfect partner for travel, food and writing. I know I need to take it to the next level, but I have limited patience for things technical. (Update: I'm attending a photo course.)

 Our Family Food Fight (Jim's blog). My son, Jim (my go-to guy for all things technical and the creator of all my myriad logos), my granddaughter, Cassie, and I challenge each other in the kitchen Iron Chef-style. It's the best way to spend a Sunday! We get creative, we have fun, and we eat!

Leftovers.

• FOODalogue is available to guest post or product test. "For hire" assignments and advertising negotiable.

• Recipe Disclaimer: I'm more an improviser than a measurer...that's one of the reasons I don't bake. The "recipes" on this blog are offered as suggestions of food pairings and techniques to be experimented with in your own kitchen to your tastes and your portion sizes - rather than precise instructions.

This Just In. (and OUT...Update: did it 2 terms and quit)

I've started something new. The blogosphere has created an never-ending circle of information. There is much to be learned and I 'go to school' every day. I've been an eager student and now I've become a teacher! Incredibly, I've learned so much in the short time I'm blogging that I've begun to teach a course called "How to Create a Blog for Fun & Profit" at local adult education centers. So, maybe one day I'll edit this profile to include "I am a teacher".

You see what I mean? You never know where life will lead you... you open one door and it leads to another.